social psychology why do good people sometimes do bad things?

Social Psychology

Why do good people sometimes do bad things?

The 4 Goals of Psychology

• Describe• Explain• Predict• Control/Change

Social Thinking

• Social Psychology– scientific study of how we think about,

influence, and relate to one another• Attribution Theory

– tendency to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition

– Situational vs Dispositional attribution.

The Case of Andrea Yates

• Andrea Pia Yates (born July 2, 1964) of Houston, Texas, United States, committed the filicide of her five young children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in their family bathtub.

Social Thinking

• Fundamental Attribution Error– tendency for observers, when analyzing

another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

VS

Social Thinking• How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we

react to it

Situational attribution“Maybe that driver is ill.”

Tolerant reaction(proceed cautiously, allowdriver a wide berth)

Negative behavior

Dispositional attribution“Crazy driver!”

Unfavorable reaction(Speed up and race past the other driver, craning to give them a dirty look)

Social Thinking

• Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by external social influences

Internalattitudes

Externalinfluences

Behavior

Attitude: How’s Yours?

• Define attitude• Tell me a time when you were told you

had a good or bad one.

• Two basic questions:1. Where does attitude come from?

2. Can you change a persons attitude?

Attitude

• A belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events

• Attitudes may precede behavior.

• Low social pressure=stronger influence of attitude…high social pressure weakens the relationship.

Attitudes Affecting Actions

• Many studies suggest a person’s attitudes do not match their actions

• Attitudes can predict behavior if:–Outside influences are minimal–People are aware of their

attitudes–Attitude is relevant to behavior

Attitudes Affecting Actions

Actions Affecting Attitudes

• Under some circumstances one’s actions can influence attitudes. They include:–Foot-in-the-door phenomenon–Role playing–Cognitive dissonance

Social Thinking

• Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon– tendency for people who have

first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Role

• A set of expectations in a social setting that define how one ought to behave.

Social Roles– set of expectations

about a social position– defines how those in

the position ought to behave

– Self fulfilling prophesy? Do we become what is expected?

– Zimbardo prison experiment classic example of phenomena.

– Zimbardo In His Own Words.. (12:25 film)

Role Playing

• Playing a role can influence or change one’s attitude

• Zimbardo’s Prison Study– College students played the

role of guard or prisoner in a simulated prison.

– The study was ended when the guards became too aggressive and cruel.

Social Thinking• Cognitive Dissonance Theory

– According to Festinger, we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

– when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

– WMD and Iraq• 38% said ok if no WMD before invasion• 58% said ok after and revised reason for the war

to be “liberating oppressed people and promoting democracy”

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.

• When our attitudes are inconsistent with our actions, we change our attitudes to reduce the dissonance.

Thought for the Day

• We can’t control our feelings but we can influence them by altering our behavior.

• Some therapists have you change your behavior/environment to change our feelings.

Look for examples in media or try…1. Foot in door2. Cognitive dissonance

• End Day 1

End Day 1

Next: Conformity and Obedience…

Social Influence

• Conformity–adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to

coincide with a group standard–Chameleon effect: unconsciously

mimicking others. • Normative Social Influence

– influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Social Influence

• Asch’s conformity experiments

Comparison linesStandard lines

1 2 3

Social Influence

• Norm– an understood rule for accepted and

expected behavior– prescribes “proper” behavior

• Informational Social Influence– influence resulting from one’s willingness to

accept others’ opinions about reality

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity

• One is made to feel insecure

• Group has at least 3 people.

• The Group is unanimous

• One admires the group’s status or attractiveness

• There is no prior commitment to a response

• Others in the group observe one’s behavior

• One’s culture encourages respect for social standards.

Milgram studied this at Yale between 1961-62. What did he find?....

Social Influence• Milgram’s follow-up obedience experiment

XXX(435-450)

Percentageof subjects

who obeyedexperimenter

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0Slight(15-60)

Moderate(75-120)

Strong(135-180)

Verystrong

(195-240)

Intense(255-300)

Extremeintensity(315-360)

Dangersevere

(375-420)

Shock levels in volts

The majority ofsubjects continued to obey to the end

What about today? A Touch of Evil, Milgram Today (6min)

Milgram’s Obedience to Authority

Attitudes and Behaviors of the Group

Groups• One of the most powerful external forces is a

“group”• Group: A collection of people who interact, share

common goals and influence how members think and act.

• Aggregate: a non group who congregate but do not interact with each other. Ex. people at a bus stop.

• For a collection of people to be considered a group there must be interdependence and shared goals.

• Interdependence: the actions of one member effects the others. (ex. athletes)

Purpose of Groups

• Groups are created to either perform tasks or organize activities. They either:– Task functions: activities directed towards

getting a job done.– Social functions: responses directed

towards satisfying the emotional needs of the group.

– Do Moon Activity

How did you do?• Take NASA’s score and subtract

your score. The difference are you “”error points”.

• Total your individual, partner and group columns. The lowest score wins!

• What the experts say about your score:• 0-25: Look out Neil Armstrong!• 26-32: You may have the “Right

Stuff”• 33-45: Results inconclusive.• 46-55: Consider other career

options.• 56-70 :Huston we have a

problem.• 71-112 : Stay out of space, you

will die.

More on Groups…

• Types of Groups:1. Primary: a group of people you interact

with daily face to face.

2. Secondary: a larger group with whom you may have a more impersonal relationship. (ex. Psych class)

• What keeps a group together?1. Norms: standards of behavior accepted by

and expected from group members.

2. Ideology: shared values

Fact on Groups

1. Size effects group interaction. The bigger the group the less the interaction of the members.

2. Group behavior can be conditioned positively or negatively.

3. The ability of the group depends on how well they can work as a unit.

4. Distribution of participation and rewards are unequal.

5. People are more likely to stay with a group they join voluntarily, if joining requires sacrifice. (ex. Military)

Commitment to a Group

• Two factors that increase commitment:

1. Personal sacrifice, like enduring hardship, even humiliation, in order to join a group.

2. Actively participating in the group’s decision making and sharing in the rewards/accomplishments of the group.

Behavior in front of a Group

• How does individual behavior change in front of a group:1. Social Loafing: the diminishing effort

exerted by individuals when they are participating a group activity. (Tug of War) People feel less accountable & may free ride on others efforts.

2. Social Facilitation: How performances will improve in the presence of others…performance will decrease on difficult tasks. Most do better in front of a friendly audience.

Social Facilitation

Home Advantage in Major Team Sports

Sport Games Home Team Studied Winning Percentage

Baseball 23,034 53.5%

Football 2,592 57.3

Ice hockey 4,322 61.1

Basketball 13,596 64.4

Soccer 37,202 69.0

Bad Group Behavior

• Groups can be a positive and negative influence on behavior.

• 2 types:– Group Polarization:

extreme views that are grouped together become more extreme. Ex. racist students discuss race issues and become more racist.

More Groups

• Group Think: when group interactions distort important decisions. Janis coined the term which means the harmonious but unrealistic assumptions of consensus (Bay of Pigs) Challenger & Explanation

Attitude: How’s Yours?

• Define attitude.

• Two basic questions:1. Where does attitude come from?

2. Can you change a persons attitude?

More Attitude..

• Where do they come from?– Peers: we tend to adopt the likes and

dislikes of groups whose approval we seek. – Parents: may be responsible for some of our

most basic attitudes.• Ex. 76% of seniors subscribe to the same polt. party

of parents…this decreases 50-60% in college, why?– Culture: strong influence on everything from

food to relationships. • Ethnocentrism: the tendency to view the world

through our own cultural filters.

Social Influence

• Culture–enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes,

and traditions shared by a large group of people

– transmitted from one generation to the next

• Personal Space–buffer zone we like to maintain

around our bodies

Social Perception• Social Perception: The

process by which we form impressions of others and ourselves.

• In life we both give off and receive cues about people.

• Social perceptions can often be our first impressions, and are hard to eliminate.

• Social perceptions can lead to stereotypes.

Stereotypes

• Stereotype: An over-simplified, hard to change way of seeing a person, or group of people.

• They can be positive or negative, based on true or false information.

• They are usually limiting and potentially discriminatory.

• People tend to hold to these, regardless of individual differences or evidence to the contrary.

• Vivid Case Phenomenon can also explain this.

More Stereotypes

• Who are they directed to?– Minorities, women, ethnic groups..is

anyone immune?• Why do we have these?

– It is our attempt to make sense of our world, but that does not make them correct.

• So what’s the harm?– They negatively impact others lives

and can lead to prejudice, discrimination, oppression and even genocide!

When Stereotypes turn to Prejudice

• Prejudice: a generalized attitude toward a specific group of people..to pre judge someone based on group membership. Archie and Sammy

• Causes:– Exaggerated differences: assuming people are more

different than they are.– Justifying economic status: tendency to develop

prejudice against those who are not in the same economic group.

– Social learning: parents strongly influence ideas.– Victimization: victims of prejudice sometimes assert their

superiority over others. (ex. house slaves vs. field hands)– Scapegoating: aggression towards a group that has

been made a target. (ex. Nazi actions towards the Jews.)

Race

• Race is a category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group.

• Physical appearance is NOT the only factory, but how people and society react to these.

• Racism: the belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is superior.

Ethnicity

• Ethnicity is the set of cultural characteristics that distinguish one group from another.

• People who share a common cultural background and sense of identity is known as an ethnic group.

• To survive they must pass on their beliefs and practices to future generations.

• Some groups are both ethnically and racially unique..ex. African-Americans.

Minority Groups

• Those who hold power in society may place an arbitrary value on specific characteristics, beyond race or ethnicity.

• It gives them better housing, schools, etc..• It is often done at the expense of another group.• A minority group are people who because of

their physical characteristics or ethnic background are singled out and unequally treated.

• It has nothing to do with size, and everything to do with power. (South Africa whites only 15%)

Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes

• Jane Elliot experimented with 28 students in 1970 to see the effects of discrimination.

• Findings: even arbitrary discrimination has an immediate and visible impact.

• ABC Special

Discrimination

• Discrimination can range from name-calling to acts of violence.

• Lynching an extreme case..1862-1964, 5,000 African-Americans killed.

• Societal discrimination is one of two forms:– Legal discrimination: upheld by law– Institutional discrimination: upheld by

custom & an outgrowth of societal structure.

Discrimination Today

• Attitudes are changing: Ex. Views on interracial dating. 1980: 17% had said they dated someone of another race. 1990: 57% reported that they had.

• 1950: 4% approved of interracial marriages, today: 60%, though only 4% are interracial.

• There has been an increase in anti-immigrant sentiment seen in recent legislation.

• Increase in white hate groups.

• Reality by 2050 whites will not longer be a numerical majority.

• The times are a changing.

Patters of Intergroup Relations

• Discrimination is the denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership.

• It involves behaviors.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

• When we believe something to be true about others (or ourselves) and we act in ways that cause this belief to come true.